Showing posts with label snow child. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow child. Show all posts

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Eowyn Ivy's 'The Snow Child' Adapted As Bluegrass Themed Musical, Debuts Spring

Do you remember Eowyn Ivy's fairy tale-based novel The Snow Child?

This beautiful trailer might bring back lovely memories (and if you haven't read it, we recommend you do):
The Snow Child was an astonishing debut that hit the best-seller lists, had book clubs raving and even became a finalist for a Pulitzer. It was inevitable that this beautiful story of survival in a very different American wilderness, would find life in another form, and so it has: as a bluegrass-themed musical.

While bluegrass is a very different sort of soundtrack compared to the "gentle snowfall" one in the trailer above, no doubt it will add a whole new dimension to the story when they're put together.
Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel The Snow Child, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is reborn as a magical new musical featuring a score that combines Alaskan string-band traditions and contemporary musical theater. The 1920 Alaskan wilderness is a brutal place to try to save a marriage. Reeling from the loss of an unborn child, Mabel and Jack struggle to rebuild their lives even as the fissures between them continue to widen. But everything changes suddenly when they are visited by a wild, mysterious girl who embodies the dark woods that surround their cabin. In this beautiful and violent land, things are rarely as they appear, and what the snow child teaches them will ultimately transform them all. (ArenaStage)
For music folks, who enjoy folk music, the link above includes an interview with the creators of the stage play, particularly with regard to the music and there is also an article from Bluegrass Today which goes into how the music was put together. You can read that one in full HERE.

Artistic Director, Molly Smith, and some of her key creative team for the show, recount how they were inspired and moved by Ivy's novel to bring it to the stage:
“The unimaginable expanse of Alaska was my home for almost half my life, and our cabin in Southeast Alaska remains a retreat for me from the heady politics of Washington, D.C.,” shares Smith. “When I first read the novel, I was struck by Eowyn Ivey’s ability to capture the wildness of Alaska; something I know our audiences will be eager to experience. This is a classic fairytale with a deeply human story—perfect for the stage. Bringing to life this world, from the Alaskan forests to the snow to the enchanted nature of the child, with remarkable collaborators like John, Georgia and Bob, and with a superb company of actors and designers is a particular thrill for me. A Power Play, Snow Child tackles the politics of Alaska at the turn of the century and the relationship of human beings to the environment.” 
“Molly sent me Eowyn Ivey’s novel back in the fall of 2014, and before I even finished reading it I wrote her to say ‘Yes, count me in. I love this book,’” says Stitt (Ed. co-composer & lyrics for Snow Child). “The story was so evocative, so theatrical, and the humanity of the main character, Mabel, was palpable. I’ve been most excited to write such a complex female character, to explore the relationships between what we own and what we only inhabit, and to write American theater music that lives fully and dramatically on the five most traditional bluegrass instruments (fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo and upright bass).” 
“The snow child is the magic and mystery at the heart of our story,” recounts Strand (Ed. who wrote the book for the musical). “Like the land she embodies, she transforms everyone around her. To Mabel and Jack, the struggling couple newly arrived in 1920s Alaska as homesteaders, the child is part desire, part redemption, or possibly madness—but surely, she is a reflection of the glorious and unforgiving wilderness that surrounds them all. It has been a privilege and a joy to work with the richly drawn characters from Eowyn Ivey’s novel.” (The Washington Sun)
It's not quite clear how much of the fairy tale - story or feel - will be integrated into the show. Most articles reference the development of the music, but it wouldn't be Eowyn Ivy's story without some of that fairy tale DNA in there either, so we look forward to the reviews.

There is an Artist Statement from Georgia Stitt's personal website, however, that fairy tale folk will find interesting:
Snow Child is based on a centuries-old Slavic folktale: a childless couple builds a small snowman and it comes magically to life, the child they always longed for. But the Snow Child comes with its own dangers and revelations. Taking a folktale and setting it in contemporary reality — the Alaska Territory in the 1920s — allows us to investigate some of the universal themes present here: the cycle of seasons with their echoes of death and rebirth; the struggle to survive in a wilderness that is often violent and unforgiving; the power of hope; the resilience of the human spirit; and the courage it takes to believe in something that cannot be explained logically but is passed down to us in story and song.
The setting of our tale draws us to the American pioneering urge, the homesteader alone against the elements, sometimes compelled — perhaps hopelessly — to try to tame what is better left wild. 
Alaska is what led the Snow Child creative team toward bluegrass, that deeply American music that is rooted in the land. Bluegrass is the musical language we use to get to the truth of this story, although the shared compositional goal between the two co-composers has been to take the best stylistic and harmonic elements of bluegrass music and combine them with the best narrative and storytelling elements of contemporary musical theater. In the resulting sound is the hybrid score of Snow Child. 
At the heart of our narrative is a courageous woman who battles back from despair and an attempt to take her own life. She discovers within her a strength of spirit to rival the tall forests and towering mountains of this magnificent land. It is the mysterious Snow Child who shows her the way.
Previews begin April 13th, with the premiere launching on April 26th in Washington, D.C. at Arena Stage.The production will run through May 20th, 2018.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Pulitzer Prize Finalist (& Fairy Tale Author), Eowyn Ivey, to Receive Governor's Award


A big congratulations to Eowyn Ivey for all the recent recognition of her beautiful work in writing The Snow Child.

Not too long ago Ms. Ivey was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize and today (January 10th, 2014) it was announced that she will also be receiving recognition from the Governor for her artistic contribution to the US in 2013,  in the form of her novel.
The Snow Child - cabin concept (paper cutouts & Photoshop) by Aubrey Williams
The Snow Child by Dyana-M

Excerpt from AnchorageDailyNews:
Eowyn Ivey reads from her book
 A best-selling Alaska author and former state legislator are among the recipients of the 2014 Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities announced on Jan. 10.  
Eowyn Ivey of Chickaloon, whose debut novel “The Snow Child” was a surprise best-seller overseas and continues to rank in the regional best-seller list for the Pacific Northwest, sill receive the Individual Artist Award. 
The Governor's Arts and Humanities Awards will be presented at... (a) Gala banquet on January 30, 2014.
     
 I'm including the following announcement which will be of interest to folklore and fairy tale people, should you happen to be in Anchorage, Alaska during the time.
Fireside Books - The Snow Child display window

ADN Announcement:  On Monday February 18, 2013 Professor Victoria Kononova will discuss the snow maiden fairy tale in Russian folklore, literature, music and art at the UAA Bookstore from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Russian snow maiden fairy tale was the inspiration for Ivey's award winning book.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/01/10/3267354/governors-arts-awards-announced.html#storylink=cpy
Gosh I would love to sit in on that! It's rare to hear Russian fairy tales being discussed, let alone so specifically. Let's hope someone has the foresight (and generosity) to video it and share it on YouTube.

With the fantasy touch and being based on a fairy tale it's not too difficult to see pictures when you read The Snow Child. The initial marketing for the novel included a truly lovely and sensitive animation and the various book covers have been fascinating to see as well.
The Snow Child (setting) by Arandadill
Into the Mountains (The Snow Child) by Cachava
I do love it when people create good quality art out of love though, so it's wonderful to see art inspired by Ms. Ivey's work as well. A very brief search unearthed the included art (credits included in the corresponding captions).
The Snow Child by Amy Schmitt (I love this!)
The Snow Child by Cachava
The Snow Child (characters) by Arandadill
And how cool is this? In her many travels, finding fans all over the globe, Ms. Ivey visited Scotland where landscape painted Amy Marshall was able to show her the charcoal illustration she was inspired to do, full size (how awesome would that be to see as an author?!).

Eowyn Ivey (left) admires Amy Marshall's (on right) charcoal drawing for her book, The Snow Child
I'll finish with a book cover I hadn't seen until today. They're all so different but I would have easily guess this cover belonged with Ms. Ivey's novel. This is by professional illustrator and artist Matthew John Gordon. 

In the meantime, congrats again Eowyn! We love your book and are still talking about it. It's been one of the very few fairy tale novels I've been able to recommend to non-fairy tale people and have them enjoy it thoroughly as well.
Alternate book cover by Matthew John Gordon

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey (book trailer)

Heidi over at the SurLaLune Blog posted a lovely review of The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey not long ago and included the book trailer but I wanted to post on it anyway for three reasons:

1) it draws on a Russian snow child tale I've always loved
2) the book trailer is beautifully animated and a joy to watch
3) it's being highly recommended by Ali Shaw, author of The Girl With Glass Feet

Take a look:

Official book blurb:
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. 
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.
The text begins like this:

THE SNOW CHILD EXCERPT

Excerpt from CHAPTER 1

Wolverine River, Alaska, 1920 
Mabel had known there would be silence. That was the point, after all. No infants cooing or wailing. No neighbor children playfully hollering down the lane. No pad of small feet on wooden stairs worn smooth by generations, or clackety-clack of toys along the kitchen floor. All those sounds of her failure and regret would be left behind, and in their place there would be silence.
She had imagined that in the Alaska wilderness silence would be peaceful, like snow falling at night, air filled with promise but no sound, but that was not what she found. Instead, when she swept the plank floor, the broom bristles scritched like some sharp-toothed shrew nibbling at her heart. When she washed the dishes, plates and bowls clattered as if they were breaking to pieces. The only sound not of her making was a sudden “caw, cawww” from outside. Mabel wrung dishwater from a rag and looked out the kitchen window in time to see a raven flapping its way from one leafless birch tree to another. No children chasing each other through autumn leaves, calling each other’s names. Not even a solitary child on a swing. 
                                                                                    ***** 
Norwegian cover
Italian cover
You can continue reading the excerpt HERE, which, if I wasn't sold on this book before, would have sealed the deal. It's just beautiful.
The images posted are variations on the cover, of which I'm glad there are so many (Heidi already posted some of the others). This is one tale I'm, again, mystified by the lack of illustrators tackling the subject. The visuals and the emotions in the story are so poignant. It's almost begging to be given form! (Kind of like the snow child herself.)
Ms. Ivey's website is HERE and you can now purchase the book HERE (it was released February 1st).

Relatedly, there's a Welsh theatrical production of a version of The Snow Child, which is where I found the above image. You can read more information and see more production images HERE.
EXTREMELY LATE UPDATE!
The designs were created by artist/illustrator Fiona Woodcock and the trailer was animated by Verdant Films - something which seemed difficult to pin down when this book was getting so much attention. Such beautiful work needs to be acknowledged! Thankfully, book trailers are now eligible for Moby Awards so hopefully a) people will be more aware of those artists behind the scenes who are doing beautiful work to promote writers b) more effort will go into the quality of book trailers in general. Congratulations to Fiona Woodcock & Verdant Films! This is beautiful and unforgettable work.